The views expressed in this blog are based entirely on personal tastes and opinions. They should not be construed as professional reviews in anyway. Any resemblance to actual reviews, living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.

Monday, April 02, 2012

Savour 2012

C
says:

The inaugural Savour event
took place from 30 March to 1 April. The F1 Pit Building was transformed into a
Gourmet Village of sorts, with over 50 pop up stalls showcasing food from
acclaimed international as well as local chefs, seminars, masterclasses and a
Gourmet Market featuring various F&B purveyors.

The concept was
interesting – you could either buy tickets for lunch or dinner (with dinner
being more expensive). Your ticket would then entitle you to a certain number
of Savour$ (less than the price of the ticket), which you could then use to
purchase food or products at the event. Additional Savour$ could also be
purchased at various booths throughout the Village.

Prices of dishes
ranged from $6 to $21, and one of the major marketing angles was that this was
an opportunity to sample Michelin-starred cuisine at fairly reasonable prices.
Some of the guest international chefs included Alain Passard and Alvin Leung.
On the local front, there were offerings from Gunther’s, St Pierre, Jaan, Sam
Leong and a host of others.

Some items were indeed
a steal, like St Pierre’s Menage a Trois, a salmon-based sampler that seemed to
have at least 20 components, for only $15. In contrast, Alain Passard’s Chaud
Froid Egg with maple syrup and xeres vinegar was, in my opinion, somewhat of a
rip off at $18.

Consistency seemed to
be a bit of an issue though. We thought the Cod 2.0 from chef Hans Valimaki
from Chez Dominique in Finland was one of the best dishes we had, and friend Y,
who was also there for the Saturday lunch session, was also quite impressed. However
another friend S was there for dinner the night before, and found the fish
rubbery.

Gunther’s cold angel
hair pasta with Oscietra caviar was good, if a bit pricey at $21. A last minute
decision to try Sam Leong’s pumpkin rice with XO sausage and seared foie gras
paid off – the fragrant rice steamed within a mini pumpkin was one of the best
dishes we had that day.

Other dishes sounded
better than they tasted, like Alvin Leung’s egg waffle with vanilla condensed
milk ice cream. The waffle smelled amazing, with bits of black truffle in the
batter, but the ice cream was too rich, dense and heavy, and could have been a
bit sweeter. His molecular xiao long bao and har mei lo mein were pretty good
though.

I must say that for a
first time event, Savour 2012 was very well organized. There were ample areas
to either sit or stand while you grazed from stall to stall. And given the
number of disposable plates that they no doubt went through, it was heartening
to see that they used Cornware, the range of biodegradable disposable cutlery
made from corn.

I think a few things
could have been improved upon, like introducing a stored value card system
(similar to Marche and Ramen Champion) rather than physical coupons
representing Savour$ that you still had to count out. Overall though, kudos to
the organizers on a job very well done, and I’m definitely there if they decide
to do this again.

A
says:

Not bad. Not cheap. And it could have
benefited from a more advanced stored value payment system though. And of
course, more sheltered seating. But overall, I would go again next year.